An unusual biography of an artist who herself painted an unusual autobiography before she was murdered at Auschwitz. Felstiner (History/San Francisco State Univ.) moves fluidly between biography, history (with a feminist angle), and art criticism as she fleshes out the brief life of Charlotte Salomon and examines the factors—personal and historical—that influenced her art and determined her fate. Neither the young Charlotte nor her origins were promising: Her mother, her aunt, and other family members committed suicide. Though from a well-to-do Berlin Jewish family, the young art student was described by a contemporary as ``withdrawn, serious, pale, tall and nondescript.'' Yet the advent of the Nazis, her love affair with the mesmerizing musician Alfred Wolfsohn, exile to France and temporary internment there as an ``undesirable alien,'' and then a relatively peaceful time on the Cìte d`Azur—all these contributed to a remarkable artistic outpouring in 194142 that resulted in her masterwork, Life? or Theater? (published here in 1981). Charlotte called it a Singespiel, or operetta: 769 painted pages accompanied by text and music. Felstiner terms it Salomon's attempt to create a lasting self in a family where self-obliteration was the rule and at a time when the obliteration of her people was being effected. Complementing Charlotte's carefully shaped, personal narrative with her own more complete, thoroughly researched one, Felstiner also threads in the life of Alois Brunner, the brutal SS officer who ordered the deportation that brought Charlotte to Auschwitz, where she died at the age of 26. Felstiner buttresses her account with fascinating background details; discussing the suicide of Charlotte's mother, for instance, she offers evidence that German Jews had an extraordinarily high suicide rate at the time. Felstiner closes with the romantic notion that Salomon's Life? or Theater? is the triumph of art over evil. But overall, this artfully told account leaves one hungry to experience Salomon's unique legacy firsthand. (8-page color insert, 40 b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: July 27, 1994
ISBN: 0-06-017105-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1994
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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